Inside Tricoci Spas' Nature’s Alternative Line: Q&A with Elaine Sauer

Posted: March 31, 2008

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GCI: What is key to balancing your business life and personal life?

Elaine Sauer: First of all, business is a passion. It blends into everything I do, but I find I need to pull the plug sometimes, and then I try to learn something new—either an activity (salsa dancing is the goal this year), skiing last year (which is a new love) and certain poses in yoga continue to challenge me, but I love the time to try. Vacations are a must. I love beach vacations, but Aspen skiing has been great this year. Next year, I plan to visit southern France and Spain for learning vacations. I will also combine some business, as there are some great fragrance houses there I am interested in exploring.

GCI: How do you believe the beauty industry is changing, and what news or trends do you think will be important for professionals to pay attention to in 2008?

Elaine Sauer: The medical avenue of injectables is changing the facial business…. It’s been interesting—since BOTOX was approved for antiaging officially a few years back—I am noticing products being available via e-commerce and through various avenues today. More people are managing some of their skin care routines at home with personal equipment from the Zeno to Wellbox, but like everything, the human hand does so much more for rejuvenation and draining stagnation from the face. I can’t imagine that facials will ever be replaced with these new avenues…. The human touch is irreplaceable…. The personal care market is trying to bridge the direct line to home spa, but you can’t imagine how many home bikini waxes we have to fix! The trends for cosmeceuticals/nutraceuticals are going to increase in the spa setting; some vendors that are leaders in this area are Murad, Inc. and N.V.]Perricone M.D. Cosmeceuticals, but so much of the end results are through your nutrition. Much like exercising, if you want to lose weight, you have to change what you’re consuming as well, or the increased exercise is not enough. Young people and men are a growing segment of our business, and we have to adjust the way we market our menus to these new categories if we want to attract them and make them feel at home…. Kids are feeling the pressure of life today and want to be relaxed via massage.

GCI: What are some of your concerns regarding these trends?

Elaine Sauer: Even people in their twenties and thirties are having BOTOX! There’s such an awareness of people wanting to remain youthful…. We tend to think women use more products—and they do—but they want multifunctional products. Men feel the same way; they look for ease of use in moisturizer, SPF sunscreens and eye cream.